It Is A Pipeline, Therefore, It Will Leak

Public Citizenreleased a report today about our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline, the continent-spanning death funnel that will bring the world's dirtiest fossil fuel from the environmental wasteland of northern Alberta to the refineries of the Gulf coast, and thence to all the ports in the world. Today's report concerns the 445-mile stretch of the death-funnel that runs from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas. Very soon, that length of pipe is supposed to transport 700,000 barrels of planet-burning cancer juice a day. Alas, Public Citizen's report has found hundreds of "anomalies" in the pipeline's construction. These include dents, faulty welds, and obvious exterior damage that was badly repaired.

The report documents construction problems and apparent engineering code violations along the Texas portion of the southern segment of the pipeline. The full southern segment, scheduled to be filled with oil by the end of 2013, will run from Cushing, Okla., to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. It traverses 631 streams and rivers in Texas alone...The apparent problems documented in the report include pipe being installed as part of new construction that had excessive bending or sagging, and peeling patches of field coating applied to cover damage on pipe about to be placed into the ground. The report also notes more than 125 excavations in 250 miles of possible "anomalies" on pipe that had been buried for months. Those anomalies included dents, sags and other problems that could lead to spills or leakage of toxic tar sands crude.

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I am particularly reassured by the picture of the pipe with the word "JUNK" spray-painted upon it. Public Citizen argues, and not without some justification, that the northern half of the pipeline, which is what all the fuss has been about, should not be approved until we all get an adequate explanation from TransCanada, the pipeline's owners, for the apparent shoddiness of the way the southern part was built. It is a pipeline, so, therefore, it leaks. TransCanada is an oil company, so, therefore, it lies. Once you accept the truth of those basic principles, the whole thing becomes quite easy to understand.